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Newsletter of the Northern Ireland Mixed Marriage Association Email- [email protected] If you would like www.nimma.org.uk to receive an e-mailed version of NIMMA News, please let us know News at: December 2011 [email protected] NIMMA makes its own piece of history NIMMA will spring a few surprises when Why NIMMA says NO to CSI it publishes a chapter detailing the history of mixed marriage on the island of Ireland as part of the February launch of its paper- back “Mixed Emotions”. Not least is the account of how a Roman Catholic bishop described it as “evil” and how the population in the south of this island nosedived as a direct result of Vatican decree about mixed marriage that was also instrumental in slashing dramatically Protestant support for Home Rule in Ireland in the early 20th Century. NIMMA Chair Ken Dunn, who has written the history, said: “The Ne Temere Decree stated that all the children of broken up. We can compare, in the same period, the 60% mixed marriages had to be brought up as Roman Catholics increase in the Roman Catholic population of Northern and that the ‘non-Roman Catholic’ parent had to make a Ireland. written promise to that effect. Dr Fitzgerald asked the Irish Bishops to request Rome for a Prior to that, Ireland had a tradition whereby boys fol- relaxation of Ne Temere, but they refused. Professor Oliver lowed their fathers’ religion; girls took after their mothers’. Rafferty SJ, Maynooth, has said that one of the Roman It worked well for several hundred years, as land and Catholic Church’s most remarkable self-inflicted wounds property stayed a constant, but Ne Temere changed was Ne Temere. everything in 1908 at a time crucial to the political future of Prior to 1910, the Presbyterian General Assembly had 30% this island. of its members in favour of Home Rule, after that date, just Dr Garrett Fitzgerald has shown, wearing his statistician’s 4%! hat, that Ne Temere was the prime factor in reducing the The future Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin and Protestant population of the Irish Republic by 80%. At Armagh John Gregg was then Dean in Cork. He said: “How independence, there was an initial exodus, followed by the can you expect us to trust ourselves to you? The decree is second phase of attrition using Ne Temere. an attack on Irish Unity and can only make Protestants more Contrary to Roman Canon Law, this was often applied irreconcilable to the idea of Home Rule”. retrospectively and marriages of long-standing were Ken Dunn said: “So, Home Rule became Rome Rule almost overnight and pawned a legacy of bitterness, resentment and violence. “Gone are the days when Sadly, the rest is history, but history is so often the child of ignorance and prejudice bearing little or no relation to what Bishops described actually took place. We trust that we have gone some way to setting the record mixed marriage as “evil” straight”. Comment From the Chair..... Christmas, A time for family and reflection..... Christmas is a time for family and a of charities, to release this through e-mail only. time for reflection as another year comes Enquiries to our hotline on Belfast 90 235444 to a close. remain constant, while statistics show that our website at www.nimma.org.uk is the first port of This year, those two Christmas essentials are call for information about mixed marriage from even more poignant for those of us in the as far away as Canada and Australia. Our public NIMMA family. We have suffered sad losses in profile is strong and set to get stronger with the the past twelve months with the passing of mixed February/March 2012 launch of our book of real- marriage stalwarts Rev David Turtle, Fr Michael life stories about mixed marriage. Hurley and our first chaplain, Canon Dick Economic and political uncertainty continue on McDonald. And, within only the past few weeks, this island and there is much talk about our our former treasurer and great friend, Nuala “post-conflict” society, but, while we at NIMMA McGuinness. acknowledge all of the difficulties faced by We are sad certainly that these good people are couples today, we remain optimistic that more and no longer with us, but glad for the valuable more of our young people are meeting and mixing service they gave to the cause of mixed marriage educationally and socially. We trust that our in this country and glad of the gift of their book, with its stories of love, compromise and friendship. We remember them with great perseverance, will be a great help to our young fondness. people. NIMMA also has much to hope for as the New May I wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas Year approaches. We have maintained a constant and a Happy New Year as we look ahead to 2012 flow of information to our customers - that and a more inclusive society for all of our people. includes just about everyone in the Province and beyond - via our newsletter, although financial restrictions have forced us, like the vast majority Ken Northern Ireland Mixed 028 90235 444 Marriage Association Office Hours Mon- Bryson House Friday 9.30 - 12.30 28 Bedford Street (Evening appointments NIMMA BELFAST available, 24 hour BT2 7FE answer machine Help-line service) 2.